Gold and Blood, Bronze and Sweat
by BalthierFan6828
Summary: Balthier catches Vaan in a lie out in the desert. Bal/Vaan pairing.


**Ok so I must be in fanfic mode seriously cuz I'm writing a lot lately. Not sure where this one is going I'm just kinda going into it blind. I don't own em', I just write about em'. Once again bear with me if people in this fic get a little out of character or things are out of order. Bal/Vaan pairing? Perhaps! Rated M to keep warn off easily offended people, but it really isn't all that bad.**

**Gold and Blood, Bronze and Sweat**

The gold pattern of Balthier's vest was smeared with blood, and Vaan knew that as soon as the pirate's sight was returned to him that he would be quite upset to learn this fact. The boy might have gone ahead and cast blindga, since the other man's magic was too low to do it himself, but was pretending in earnest to have had silence cast on him. Although it may have seemed like a strange thing for him to be doing, he was desperate to keep himself as much on the other man's good side as he could. He knew damn well that if he failed at this then he would never be allowed to touch the Stahl, and that was something he just couldn't have. Quite frankly, this whole situation was his fault and when Balthier saw the state of his clothes he was only going to get angrier at the boy than he already was. Vaan wiped some of the sweat from his bronzed skin and sat on a nearby rock, waiting patiently for the others to come looking for them. He didn't really know what his plan was, but he somehow thought that having the others present might make the brunette go a little easier on him. "Vaan?," the pirate called out questioningly, "Are you sure we don't have any eye drops? I swear I saw a vial of the left on the way out here." Vaan eyed Balthier nervously, and slid the hidden bottle of eye drops deeper into his metal boot. The other man walked a few steps closer to the rock where Vaan was sitting, his hands out if front of him as if that were going to help him out here in the middle of the damn desert. Finally the boy reached out and gave the pirate his hand, leading him to a sitting position on the boulder beside him. They sat in silence a moment, when Balthier unexpectedly pinched the boy as hard as he could on the arm. "Oww! Jesus Balthier, what the hell?" screamed the thief before covering his mouth quickly as if to make the words go back where they came from. "I knew you were lying you little twat," smirked the pirate, "Now cure my eyes before I beat the living shit out of you." Vaan sighed and cast the spell. As the boy had expected, Balthier was furious at the state of his clothes. "The next time you drag me off to one of these stupid hunts, Vaan," threatened the pirate, "I'm going to bring you out here and kill you myself!"

They made their way back to the Strahl in silence. Balthier was furious, and did not try to hide this fact in the least bit. He was tired, annoyed, sore, and burning up in this damn dry heat. Vaan however, was lagging a bit behind the older man in an effort to hide the tears that were threatening to spill down his cheeks. He just wanted Balthier to like him, and the more he tried to gain the pirate's respect the worse he made the situation. When they finally reached the airship they found it empty, the others must have gone into Rabanastre for the day. Vaan was a little surprised when Balthier started removing his vest in the main room of the Strahl instead of storming off to his room. He wasn't sure why, but he couldn't seem to move as he watched the pirate slowly unbutton his white shirt and pull it off. He must have made a noise as he stared at Balthier's perfectly smooth back because the other man turned around to face him.

Why was Vaan staring at him like that? Balthier stood facing the boy a moment; his hands paused on the clasp of his pants. A slight nervous feeling erupted in his stomach when he saw the boy looking at him so…well…turned on. "Vaan?" he asked, breaking the unblinking eye contact the boy was having with his chest. "Hmm?" muttered the boy quietly, suddenly looking up at his face, "Oh...Um…well…I should…go," he stammered, and then he was gone. Balthier stood there a moment confused before turning around and walking to his room. He propped himself up on his bed and stared at the ceiling, his brow furrowed in thought. He subconsciously reached down and nervously thumbed the edge of his pants as he imagined the way the boy had been looking at him, chewing his bottom lip unknowingly. What the hell was happening here? Vaan had never made him feel so…well…never made him feel like this before, but he had never looked at him that way before either. Perhaps he should inquire as to what the boy was thinking, or no, that wasn't the style of the leading man at all. He didn't have any more time to think about it before his bedroom door opened. Vaan made his way over to the startled pirate and slowly sat down beside him. Neither spoke.

Vaan leaned in, and the other man's breath hitched in his throat. They sat there a moment, both shaking lightly with both excitement and fear, their breath mingling together…lips so close to each other's. And then it happened. The first kiss was awkward; though it wasn't a first kiss of either of them it was a first of a certain sort. Balthier quickly took charge and pulled the boy down on top of him, ripping off his vest and tossing it to the floor. They tore at each other, kissing and biting any bit of flesh they could find on the other. "What are we doing?" asked Balthier, hating the shaky quality of his voice. Vaan looked up at him, "I don't know," he stammered, "but I don't want to stop." The older man showed his agreement by shoving his tongue into the boy's mouth. Balthier was fumbling with the clasp on the boy's pants when they heard a small coughing sound. They turned to the door of the bedroom, which Vaan had unfortunately left hanging wide open, and found themselves face to face with their wide eyed traveling companions. Basch was the first to speak, "Well…I did not see this coming," he said trying not to laugh. He shut the door, and Vaan and Balthier had a choice to make. They could run after the others now and try to blow the whole thing off…or…

When they woke up in each other's arms the next morning, they didn't care if the others had heard all the moaning or not.

**The end. Hope you enjoyed. Review please!**


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